Weft detector for looms



RICHARD G. TURNER, or W030 Patented Nov. 5, 392% ranssnonusnrrs, assrenon T0 CBQMJETQNZ KNOWLES oom moans, or wcncissrna, assesnsures, A oonr'on nrron or MASSACHUSETTS were. DETECTOR FOB ooms Applicationfiled March 15, 1928. Serial at. 261,973.

This invention relates to improvements in weft detectors for looms of the type employing regularly moving transferrerarms and it is the general object of the invention to provide a detector a portion of which is carried by the transferrer arm and another part of which is independent of the transferrerarm.

In patent to Byon No. 1,372,316 there is shown a weft detector mechanism mounted on a transferrer arm. On detecting beats of the loom the transferrer arm is given a quick downward motion toward the bobbin and a detecting surface supported by the transferrer arm is'brouglht into contact with the weft. Several variations of the detector set forth in said patent have been employed, but'so far as Iam aware they have all been made with the detecting element mounted directly on the transferrer arm. V'Vith such an arrangement it is foundthat the detector element acts as a hammer to subject the yarn to blows which are found to be detrimental in the case of very fine yarn such as rayon. It is an important object of my present invention to retain a portion of the device shown in the Ryon patent on the transferrer arm butto place the detecting element which-has direct contact withthe yarn in the shuttle so that no part carried by the transferrer arm has direct engagement with the weft.

It has been found in mechanisms of the type set forth in the aforesaid patent that repeated and constant motion of the transferrer arm apparently increases the weary of those parts of the detecting mechanism which move relatively to the transferrer arm and it is accordingly a further object ofvmy invention to place on the transferrer arm only [such parts of the mechanism as are normally at rest relatively to the arm, the movement of said parts relatively to the arm taking place only at indication of weft exhaustion.

' lVith these and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in thecombination and arrangement of parts'hereinafter describedand set forth in the claims.

In the-accompanying drawings, wherein I have shown a convenient embodiment of my invention,

section on'line 55 of Fig. 4,

6 is a detailed horizontal section on line 66 of Fig.4, and

is a view similar to Fig. abut with the parts moved-to'the position to'corr'espon-d with thoseshown in Fi'gig or inthe position these parts assume when indicating substan tial exhaustion .of Weft.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1 it will 'be seen that I have. shown a magazine" frame 10 on which is pivoted ,as at 11 atransferrer arm 12. By means of a verticallyreciprocating actuator rod 13 which is pivotally'conn'ected to the transferrer arm at -l l s'a i d' arm is given up and down movements in accordance with a prescribed sequence so as to be in low position on detecting beats of the loom when the lay is in its extreme forward position. 'An indicating lever 15 pivoted to the frame as 'at 16 has a cam face 17 and also a substantially horizontal arm 18 which is connected mechanism not shown to the weft replenish mg features to actuate the latter.

The transferrer arm has'ahorizontally extendingarm 19 in which is slidably mounted an indicating plunger 20 which is acted upon by a compression spring2l tending tomove said plunger to the right from the position shown in Fig. 2-to that shown in SA cotter pin 22 extending throughthe plunger receives the thrust of the spring 21 and also by engagement with a portion of the trans ferrer arm limits movement of the plunger 20 to the right. The left hand end of the spring 21 pushes against web 23 castlintegral with the transferrer arm.

The left end of the plunger is provided with a notch 24 normally occupied by a latch 25. Asshown in Fig. 4 said latch has a horizontal portion 26 from one end of which detransferrer arm. The latch is acted upon to move downwardly by a comparatively light tension spring 30 the upper end of which engages the horizontal ortion 26 of the. latch and the lower portion of which is heldby a pin 31 fixed relatively to the transferrer arm. The matter thus far described may be substantially the same as set forth in the aforesaid patent, the transferrer arm being brought down on alternate picks to a position to lie closely above the shuttle S which carries the bobbin B wound with the weft W. As the transferrer arm moves upwardly it will carry the indicating plunger therewith and if the latter be in the position shown in Fig.2 the indicating plunger 15 will remain at rest, but if said plunger is moved outwardly to the indicating position shown in Fig. 3 it will engage the cam face 17 to rock the lever 15 about the stud 16 to initiate replenishment. The mechanism already described, except for the indicating leg 28, forms no part of my present invention and may be as set forth in Patents Nos. 1,372,316 and 1,551,219, bothto Ryon.

. In carrying my present improvements into effect I provide means for supporting that portion of the detecting mechanism which comes in direct contact with the yarn on some part'of the loom other than the transferrer arm and as shown herein I have elected to support the detector on the shuttle, although as regards certain of the broader features of my invention I do not wish to be limited to the particular type of weft engaging element which is shown herein, nor to the manner of its mounting.

/ vsion spring 42 surrounding a pivot pin 43 which is held in a small bracket 44 and forms the pivotal support for sleeve 41. bracket may be secured by means of screws 45 in a'compartment 46 cut in the front wall 47 of the shuttle S. Rigid with said sleeve is an indicating finger 48 which moves about the pin 43 in fixed angular relation with respect to the bristles 40 except for such slight bending of the bristles as may be caused by their engagement with the bobbin. As shown in Figs. 4 and 7 the indicating leg 28 is in vertical alignment with the compartment 46 and the finger 48 is of sufiicient length to engage said leg 28 during the last part of the downward movementof the transferrer arm The I when said finger 48 is housed in the com part-ment 46. Under normal conditions, when a sufiicient supply of weft is present, the bristles will engage the under side of the wound mass of yarn as shown in Fig. 4 to hold the finger 48 to one side of the leg 28 as the lay L moves the shuttle forwardly. As weaving continues and the diameter of the wound mass of yarn decreases said finger will move in a counterclockwise direction around the pin 43 toward the leg 28. The bristles 40 are of such length that they will keep the finger 48 out of the path of the leg 28 until the weft is insuificient, at which time the torsion spring 42 will move the finger and bristles from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 7. On the next descent of the transferred arm the indicating leg 28 will be brought down on top of the finger 48 as shown in Figs. 3 and 7. -The transferrer arm will continue to move downwardly after the engagement of parts 28 and 48, with the result that the latch element 25 is raised relatively to the plunger 20 and the holding finger 27 moved out of the notch 24 to release the lunger; The latter thereupon is moved shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in F ig.'3 by compression spring 21, a condition which as previously described brings about a change in the operation of the loom. 7

During the subsequent transfer the incoming bobbin will engage the bristles and cause a right hand movement of thelatter and the finger 48 about the pin 43 as viewed in Fig.

4 to restore said finger 48 and bristles'to the position shown in Fig. 4 prior to the arrival of the indicator leg 28 at a sufiiciently low point in its travel to engage the finger 48. In this way a repetition of the indication is avoided.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a weft detecting mechanism combined with an indicating device wherein the indicator is mounted on a regularly moving transferrer and the detecting element which engages the yarn is mounted on some part other than the transferrer arm so as not to be subjected to the wearand uncertainty of operation due to the motion of the transferrer arm. It will further be seen that the parts which are mounted on the transferrer arm are normally at rest with respect thereto and that the yarn engagingelement is subjected to very little motion.

Having thus described my invention it will,

be apparent that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in "the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but

what I claim is:

1. In a weft detector for looms having a shuttle and a transferrer arm which receives a regular movement toward the weft supplyat periodic intervals, an indicating member on the transferrer arm normally in non-indicating position, a detecting device including two elements to be brought into cooperative relationship at substantial exhaustion of weft, one of said elements being normally related to the indicating element to hold the same in non-indicating position and mounted on the transferrer arm and the other element being dependent for its position upon the amount of weft and being mounted in the shuttle and means to effect a change in the operation of the loom when said elements are brought into cooperative relationship to move the first element out of operative relation with the indicating element.

2. In weft detecting mechanism for a loom having a shuttle and a transferrer arm which is moved at periodic intervals toward the shuttle, an indicating member on the transferrer arm normally innon-indicating position, weft detecting devices including two elements one of which is mounted on the transferrer arm and normally holding the member in non-indicating position and the other of which is carried by the shuttle and held in inoperative position with respect to the first element when suflicient weft is pres,- ent, and means to bring about cooperation be tween said elements at substantial exhaustion of weft to move the first element out of operative relation with the indicating element to effect indication of weft exhaustion.

3. In weft detecting mechanism for a loom having a shuttle and a transferrer arm which is moved at periodic intervals toward the shuttle, weft detecting devices including two elements to be brought into cooperative relationship at substantial exhaustion of weft, means to effect indication of weft exhaustion when said elements are in cooperative relationship, one of said elements being located on the transferrer arm and effective normal- 1y to hold the means in non-indicating position and the other of said elements being other than the weft and carried by the shuttle and movable relatively to the shuttle, the motion of the transferrer arm carrying one of said elements toward the other.

4. In weft detecting mechanism for a loom having a shuttle and a transferrer arm which is moved at periodic intervals toward the shuttle, weft detecting devices including two elements to be brought into cooperative relationship at substantial exhaustion of weft, means to effect indication of weft exhaustion when said elements are in cooperative relationship, one of said elements being located on the transferrer arm and effective normally to hold the means in non-indicating position and the other of said elements being other than the weft and carried by the shuttle and movable relatively to the shuttle, the motion of the transferrer arm carrying one of said elements toward the other, the element in the weft-in the shuttle.

' 5;. In weft detectingmechanism ,for-a'loom.

having a shuttleand a transferrer arm which is 'moved at-periodic intervals toward the shuttle,- Weft detecting devices including a pair of elements normally held in inoperative relationwith respect to each other when sufficient weft ,ispresent, one ,of said elements being carried by the shuttle and determined as toposition by the amount of. weftin the shuttle and the other of said elem'ents'being held in inoperative position on the transferrer arm,- and an intermediate member effective to hO-l'd the element on the transferrer arm in inoperative position but positioned .to have operative relation with respect to theelement on the shuttle when the weft is substantially exhausted to move out'of holding position with respect to the element on the transferrer arm.

6. In weft detecting mechanism for a loom having a lay and a transferrer arm which is given periodic movements toward the lay, an indicating member on the transferrer arm normally in non-indicating position, a detecting device including two elements one of which is supported by the lay and determined as to position by the amount of weft present and the other element of whichis supported by the transferrer arm and effective nor- 'mally to hold the member in nonindicating position, and means effective at substantial exhaustion of weft to bring about cooperative relations between the elements to move the second element out of holding relation with the member, to effect indication of weft exhaustion.

7. In weft detecting mechanism for a loom having a shuttle and a transferrer arm which is moved at periodic intervals toward the shuttle, a sliding element mounted on the transferrer arm, means to hold said element normally in inoperative posit-ion, a second element movably mounted on the shuttle and provided with a portion having direct contact with the weft, the position of said second element being dependent upon the amount of weft present, and other means to move said second element to a position to have operative relationship with the first named means at substantial exhaustion of weft, movement of said transferrer arm toward the second element being effective to cause engagement of the latter with the first named means to move the latter out of holding relationship with respect to the first element when the weft plunger toward indicating position, a pivoted detecting element mounted on the shuttle and having a portion for direct engagement with the weft, and means tending to move the shuttle supported element into'position to have engagement with the latch, said movement of the shuttle supported element being prevented by a sufficient amount of weft, said shuttle supported element when the weft is substantially depleted being moved by the last named means into operative relationship With the latch, whereupon movement of the latch and the plunger by the transferrer effects releasing of the plunger from the latch so that the plunger moving means is effective to move said plunger to indicating position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aflixed my signature.

RICHARD G. TURNER. 

